Sunday, December 18, 2011

To the West, he's the director of "Romeo + Juliet" and "Australia", but to us, Baz Luhrmann is the guy who used the song "Chamma Chamma" in his film "Moulin Rouge".

Even though Baz has always spoken of his fascination for India and all things desi, we never knew just how captivated he was, till we met him in Delhi last year. Baz, along with his friend Vincent Fantauzzo had come to India for a "creative adventure trip" and traveled across Delhi and Mumbai on Royal Enfield bikes, clicking pictures that were later auctioned for charity in the capital. At that time, Baz had told us, "I first came to India 15 years ago with my wife. We wanted to do a stage production of Benjamin Britten's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". This is the visit when I was also influenced byBollywoodand felt the need to integrate elements from it in my work." A year later, the integration seems complete, as he is now working withAmitabh Bachchanon "The Great Gatsby".